Ribe

Ribe is a town in southwestern Jutland, Denmark. It was founded in 710, making it the oldest extant town in Scandinavia, and, in 860, Archbishop Ansgar of Hamburg-Bremen convinced King Horik II to allow for him to establish the first Christian church in Scandinavia at Ribe, now known as Ribe Cathedral. By the 860s, Ribe was a prosperous town bustling with activity, and the market was humming with activity as traders from far and wide came to do business and leave, while some other migrants stayed to seek their luck. Ribe became an important trading center during the early Middle Ages, but a great fire destroyed a large part of the town in 1580. In 2014, Ribe had a population of 8,168 people.